Where's Alice?
by pinkblacktiara
Summary: AU where Alice becomes friends with Bella before she is involved with Edward. Bella comes over to the Cullen's house to study with Alice, but Alice is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Bella is stuck with very friendly strangers. Fun, AU one-shot.


_A/N: So one of my favorite AUs is where Alice and Bella became friends before Bella was involved with Edward or knew anything about them, but they all knew about Alice's visions and that Edward and Bella were going to be together. So I just wrote a quick one with that AU in mind. _

_This was also a bit of a challenge to myself- to sit down and get something written out, because I have a bad habit of writing a paragraph or two and not coming back for months. So this is in a rough form. As per usual, it has not been beta'd. _

_Also, yes, I know Bella doesn't have a laptop. Lol she does now_

()()()()()()()

Bella slowly eased off the gas, making her way up the massive driveway. "When does it end?" she said out loud.

A few moments later, she came upon a clearing. She recognized a few of the cars parked in the circular driveway. "Where should I—" she muttered to herself, unsure. She tried to steer as far away from the red convertible as possible. The last thing she wanted was an accidental ding.

Throwing into park on the opposite end of the clearing, she climbed out of the truck and looked up at the massive house in front of her. She could see a shadow moving in one of the upstairs windows.

Suddenly nervous, she made her way to the wrap-around porch and rang the doorbell.

In an instant, the door opened. A stunning young woman stood in front of her, hand on the doorknob. Auburn hair was piled on top of her head, a few pieces falling artfully around her puzzled face.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Um, hi," Bella said. "I'm Bella- Alice invited me over?"

In an instant, the woman broke out into a wide smile. It was like staring at a sunset. "Oh, hello!" she said. "You must be Bella Swan!" The woman threw the door open wide and gestured for Bella to step inside.

"That's me," Bella said, slipping off her flats at the door. She shrugged off her backpack and held it in her hands, looking around the airy foyer. To the left, she saw a long hallway with abstract art lining the wall.

"I'm Esme," the woman said. "It's so very lovely to meet you." Green eyes wide, breath hitched, her tone was far beyond the pleasant exchange of small talk.

Bella noticed none of this. "It's very nice to meet you too, Mrs. Cullen," Bella said. "You have a lovely home."

She wasn't lying. Bella was finding it hard to not to stare. There was so much to see, just in that one room, from the ornately carved formal table to the grand piano, resting on a pedestal-like platform. All it needed was its own spotlight, which was almost achieved through the large skylight directly overhead. The white carpet was plush under Bella's feet.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Esme asked, and Bella whirled back around to face her, unaware that she had been now concentrating on the iron-wrought, spiral staircase.

"Alice invited me over," Bella said. "We're studying for a French exam. Is she upstairs?"

"No," Esme said, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Alice left a few hours ago, she isn't back yet."

"But I'm sure she'll be around soon!" she added brightly, gesturing for Bella to follow her down the hallway. Bella obliged, trying not to stare at the large, colorful paintings on the wall.

The hallway opened up into a large room, a TV taking up an entire wall. The living room was probably the size of the first floor of her house. She tried not to stare, again in wonder- how big was this house?

_They're a big family, I guess they need the space, _she rationalized as she set down her backpack on the small, square table to the side. There were a few books stacked on the chair next to her. She squinted to read the title: _The Creative Destruction of Medicine. _

()()()()()

Alice either planned this so perfectly as to hide it from him, or made a split second decision before her thoughts could notify him. Either way, Edward smelled trouble before he heard it. Quite literally.

It was his own fault, really. If he had been paying attention, he would have heard the telltale rattle of that rusted truck grumbling up to the house. As it were, it wasn't until the doorbell rang that his head whipped up, suddenly registering the cloyingly sweet smell starting to waft to his nose.

"Can I help you?" Esme was saying while Edward ran (fled, really) into the kitchen, where Emmett was reading and Jasper was pecking out a message on his phone.

"Who's at the door?" Emmett asked lazily, not looking up from his paperback. Jasper was squinting at his phone screen.

"Bella Swan," Edward said.

Emmett let out a laugh that shook the house.

()()()()()

"Edward!" Esme cried out enthusiastically down the hallway. Bella looked around- she didn't see anybody else in the room with her, but slowly, almost unwillingly, Edward Cullen walked slowly into the room.

"Edward, do you know Bella?" Esme said warmly.

"We have class together," he said, not meeting Bella's eye.

"Hi," Bella said, half-heartedly waving. This could not be weirder. Where was Alice?

As if he had read her mind, Edward asked, "Have you seen Alice?" pointedly to Esme. "She isn't answering her phone."

"I haven't, no" Esme said, waving her hands airily.

"Of course not," Edward said darkly.

()()()()()

This was infuriating. It wasn't enough that he must sit next to her for an hour, five days a week. It wasn't enough that Alice had to go and become friends with her. But now, to invite the human girl (the very sweet-smelling human girl who blushed _very _easily) into the house! What was next, a sleepover?

Edward mentally started a list of complaints to deliver to Alice at his earliest convenience.

Good God, was this a family meeting now? Emmett had come into the living room, head buried in his book, feigning an unbelievable amount of surprise at the stranger in the living room. "So nice to meet you!" he said, offering his hand to Bella. She shook it, looking very puzzled at his warm reaction.

"Isn't this nice, Edward?" Emmett said with an over-the-top amount of excitement. "To meet one of Alice's friends?"

"I've already met Bella," Edward muttered. "She's in my biology class."

"Really?" Emmett said, still feigning shock. "What a small world!"

"Forks has a population of four thousand and there's 50 people in my grade," Edward said. "It's not that strange."

Jasper was leaning against the wall, smirking at the interaction, but staying a safe distance away from Bella. Edward could see the vein in his neck strain for a split moment- the Swan girl had her hair up. Unconsciously, Edward took a step towards Jasper.

()()()()()

Bella just wanted to pass her French exam. Alice wasn't in her class, but obviously had a mastery of the language, as she demonstrated by holding a long conversation with Maitresse Béringer.

Now, Alice was nowhere to be found (despite Bella's increasingly frantic text messages) and Bella was in the midst of a family reunion. The Cullens were acting as if they hadn't seen each other in months.

_With a house this big, maybe they haven't, _she thought.

The front door slammed and Bella's heart rose at once. Just as quickly, it sank as an irritated voice cried out, "What is that _smell_? I swear, it's—"

Rosalie stopped short, freezing in her tracks as she rounded the corner into the living room.

()()()()()

"Why is she here?" Rosalie hissed, glaring at Edward. The family was pressed together, speaking in quick whispers. Emmett still had a grin a mile wide. The Swan girl was sitting at the small side table, looking uncomfortable as she opened her laptop, setting her phone down next to her.

"Alice obviously thought this would be amusing," Edward said through gritted teeth. "I have nothing to do with this."

"Are you alright?" Jasper said, glancing sideways at him. "You can always leave, with your … sensitivities."

"I'm fine," Edward snapped. "Let's just act normal."

"Normal?" Rosalie laughed derisively. "Because this is normal?"

Indeed, the Swan girl was sneaking glances at them, presumably bewildered by this strange, impromptu family meeting. Rosalie not bothering to lower her voice didn't help.

()()()()()

Her earphones were plugged in, music emanating quietly through the tinny speakers. She was pecking away at the keyboard, concentrating hard on pretending she didn't want to sneak a glance at the Cullens. They were huddled together in a corner, whispering fiercely, but every time she furtively glanced up, they'd jump apart and stop speaking, walking quickly to opposite ends of the room before they convened again a few moments later.

Bella was thoroughly confused.

()()()()()

"Just relax!" Esme said. It was obvious she was loving this. She couldn't keep her eyes off Bella, her smiling widening every time she looked at the girl.

"It's going to be hard for her to fall in love with you with that look on your face," Emmett said, smirking at Edward. He ducked, and Edward's fist just brushed the top of his head.

()()()()()

There was nobody in the room with her, but Bella felt like she was clearly being watched, although she didn't feel unwelcome, exactly. Alice's mother had doted over her for a few minutes, offering tea or coffee (Bella declined both) and assured her that Alice would be home soon, there was no need to leave.

So Bella was stuck, unable to gracefully leave a house full of strangers, and feeling exceptionally awkward.

She tried to keep concentrating on her computer screen, as if she wasn't sitting in a house full of people she didn't know, but she kept glancing over at her phone. She had already sent Alice four text messages.

_2:47pm: I'm at your house, are you around?_

_2:59pm: hey, are we still on? Im just hanging out in your living room_

_3:03pm: this is weird, im probaby going to go soon?_

_3:11pm: alice~~~ your mom is all "she'll be here soon, you don't have to leave" but im looking around and you are clearly not here soon_

She sighed, pretending to click around on her computer, as if she hadn't been staring at her desktop for the past half hour. (She was too polite to ask for the WiFi password.) The house was strangely quiet. She knew the family was home, she had seen them having their strange, impromptu meeting in the next room. But at some point between her random scrolling, they had dispersed. The next time the stole a glance upwards, they were all gone. Not even a footstep or creak of wood could be heard.

Bella sighed, checking her phone one more time, finally resolving herself to the fact that Alice had forgotten. She stood up, pulling her headphones out of her ears and shoving her laptop into her bag, feeling slightly stupid and thoroughly embarrassed, when the front door opened and Alice walked in, taking her sunglasses off.

"Bella!" she said, dropping her bag on the table where Bella had been sitting. "I'm so sorry, got stuck in crazy traffic, there was an accident or something. Did you have to wait long?"

"No," Bella said, lying through her teeth.

"I hope my family was entertaining, at least," Alice said, wagging her eyebrows and pulling a face.

Bella swore she heard a crash upstairs.

_A/N: Bella is listening to Soul Punk, Deluxe Edition by Patrick Stump, if you're interested. And "The Creative Destruction of Medicine" is a very interesting book, would recommend. _


End file.
